Italian mafia targets major public projects as alliances strengthen

Italy’s major mafia organizations are undergoing a strategic transformation, moving away from violent turf wars toward more collaborative and technologically sophisticated criminal activities, a new report released by the country’s national anti-mafia agency (DIA) stated.

The report, which outlines developments in organized crime across Italy, states that notorious groups such as Sicily’s Cosa Nostra, the Neapolitan Camorra, and Calabria’s Ndrangheta are now cooperating in areas like drug trafficking, prostitution, and money laundering, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

“Coexistence has fostered synergies that have progressively become structured,” said DIA Director Michele Carbone at a press conference. “These structures had become capable of absorbing overlaps, tensions and frictions,” he added.

The annual report also raises alarms over the mafia’s increasing infiltration of public works projects—particularly those linked to the European Union’s post-COVID Recovery Fund. Key initiatives under threat include preparations for the 2026 Winter Olympics, and the highly controversial plan to build a massive bridge connecting Sicily to mainland Italy.

The construction sector accounted for 38 per cent of administrative anti-mafia measures in 2024, with DIA investigations launched into 200 public infrastructure sites. Carbone emphasized the agency's readiness to intervene, stating: “Soon all anti-mafia prevention activities in connection with the construction of the bridge over the Strait (of Messina) will be started.”

Beyond traditional rackets, Italian mafia groups are evolving with the times. The DIA report reveals increased use of encrypted communication networks and even drones to maintain contact with incarcerated members. In terms of financial operations, the report notes a rise in the use of Chinese “underground banking” networks for laundering illicit proceeds.

The report also highlights the mafia’s recruitment of vulnerable youth through so-called “baby gangs,” often radicalized via social media. These platforms are used to glorify mafia life with spectacular displays of power and wealth.

With organized crime in Italy becoming more entrenched and adaptive, the DIA's findings underline the growing complexity of tackling mafia influence in both the public and private sectors.

By Vafa Guliyeva